Kite



Oct. 20, 1970 c |s o F ETAL 3,534,932

KITE Filed June 10, 1968 C/i///(/J M. w 0 ffe/ Le: few 5 Pfi//// a.r

I N VEN TORS BY WWW M %KW ATTOR/VE VJ United States Patent Ofice Patented Oct. 20, 1970 3,534,932 KITE Julius M. Christoffel and Lester F. Phillips, Houston,

Tex., assignors to Gayla Industries, Inc., Houston, Tex.,

a corporation of Texas Filed June 10, 1968, Ser. No. 735,608 Int. Cl. A63h 27/08; B64c 31/06 US. Cl. 244-153 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A kite having at least two diverging sticks, a cross stick, a body of sheet material and a pocket defining bracket secured on two of the diverging sticks and adapted to receive the cross stick.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A kite such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,785,870 issued to W. Green on Mar. 19, 1957, includes diverging wing sticks, a body of sheet material, a cross stick and a U-shaped bracket affixed to each wing stick to receive the ends of the cross stick. Difliculty has been encountered with such U-shaped brackets in that they have pulled loose from the wing sticks and also the cross sticks have pushed out the rear end of the pocket formed by such brackets. Most of the kites which have included such U- shaped brackets have used a piece of cardboard for such bracket and have stapled the cardboard bracket to opposite sides of the wing stick. Difliculties have been encountered when such cardboard brackets were wet and also the brackets have been torn and unstap'led from the wing stick while inserting the cross stick.

SUMMARY The present invention relates to an improved kite structure.

One object of the present invention is to provide an improved kite structure which is not adversely affected by wetting.

Another object is to provide an improved kite structure having cross stick receiving brackets which remain secured to their wing sticks and provide improved end support for the cross stick.

A further object is to provide improved brackets for a kite to receive the cross stick in which the cross stick is readily mounted without damage to the brackets or their attachment to the kite structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other objects of the present invention are hereinafter described and explained with reference to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a kite flying in the air.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an improved kite constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a detail sectional view of the improved bracket of the present invention taken along line 3--3 in FIG. 4 showing its wing stick and its cross stick in dashed lines.

FIG. 4 is a view of the bracket taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The kite shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a body 12 of sheet material secured to the keel stick 14 and the diverging wing sticks 16. The keel 18 is secured to the body 12 and to the keel stick 14 and is provided with suitable means, such as, the reinforcing eyelet 20, for securing the string 22 to the kite 10.

The cross stick 24, which when positioned with its ends in the brackets 26, functions to spread and hold the wing sticks 16 outward to maintain the body 12 in flying position. As best seen, in FIGS. 3 and 4, the brackets 26 are molded from a suitable material, such as, a low density polyethylene. The brackets as shown are a formed structure defining the wing stick hole 28 which extends completely through the bracket 26 and the cross stick pocket 30 which is closed at its inner end to support the end of the cross stick 24 positioned therein. The bracket structure 26 includes the walls 32 which define the wing stick hole 28 and the walls 34 extending generally parallel to each other and being joined at their outer edges to form the wall 36 which diverges outwardly from the walls 32 to form the cross stick pocket 30.

Brackets 26 are installed on the wing sticks 16 and are secured in proper position by suitable securing means, such as, a cement, glue or pinning. If wing stick 16 is a plastic material that can be heat bonded, the bracket 26 may be heat bonded to the wing stick 16. With the bracket 26 secured to the wing sticks 16, the body 12 is secured to the wing sticks -16 and the keel stick 14. The keel 18 is secured to the body 12 and to the keel stick 14. To spread the body 12 and wing sticks 16 to the flying position of the kite 10, the ends of cross stick 24 are inserted into the pockets 30 of the brackets 26. With the string 22 secured in the eyelet 20, the kite is then ready to fly.

The improved brackets 26 are easily secured to the wing sticks 16 which extend through their holes 28. In this structure, the brackets 26 remain in their secured position even when subjected to considerable stress and water. Further, these brackets 26 define the closed end pockets 30 which receive the ends of the cross stick 24 to hold the kite 10 in flying position. The cross stick 24 will not push through the closed end or bottom of the pockets 30. Thus, the improved kite of the present invention is relatively impervious to wetting and is considerably stronger than prior kites without being appreciably more expensive.

The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention are illustrative and explanatory thereof, and various changes in the size, shape and materials, as well as in the details of the illustrated construction, may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A kite comprising,

at least two sticks,

a body of flat material secured to said sticks,

a pair of molded brackets,

each of said brackets having a structure defining a hole extending therethrough and a pocket,

said pocket having a generally triangular shape in a plane extending through the axis of the hole therethrough so that 'said pocket is open at one end and closed at the other end to receive the end of a stick therein,

each of said brackets having one of said sticks extending through its hole and reinforcing said stick around its circumference,

means for securing each bracket to the stick extending through its hole,

said brackets being mounted on said sticks with the open ends of their pockets facing each other when said body is spread, and

a cross stick having its ends in the pockets of said brackets to maintain said sticks and said body in spread position.

2. A kite according to claim 1 wherein said bracket securing means includes a heat bond between each of said brackets and its respective stick and wherein said body is heat bonded to said sticks.

3. A kite according to claim 1, wherein said bracket structure is a formed plastic.

4. A kite according to claim 1, wherein said bracket is a molded low density polyethylene.

5. The subcombination with a kite having a body, at least two wing sticks and a cross stick, of a bracket comprising a molded structure defining a hole extending therethrough and a pocket,

said hole in said structure having a cross sectional shape similar to the cross sectional shape of said wing sticks whereby each of said molded structures may receive a wing stick in such hole and provide support for such wing stick,

said pocket in said structure being open at one end and closed at the other whereby the pocket is triangular in shape in a plane through the axis of said hole and the center of said pocket whereby said pocket is suitable for receipt of the end of said cross stick therein to maintain the kite in spread position.

6. The subcombination according to claim 5, wherein said structure is a molded plastic.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 919,436 4/1909 Jackson 244 153 2,735,370 3/1957 Green 244 153 3,204,368 9/1965 Efiinger et al. 244 154 XR 3,243,075 4/1966 Cunningham 244 153 3,347,500 10/1967 Hartig 244 153 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 1,395,715 3/1965 France.

MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner P. E. SAUBERER, Assistant Examiner 

